Netgear ReadyNAS RN212 Network Attached Storage Review

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Media Streaming and Performance

One of the major selling points of the RN212 is that it’s able to transcode 1080p video, and in our tests we found this claim to be accurate. At least, it works as advertised. It certainly was capable of streaming a 1080p video to an iPad and iPhone with no dropped frames, and everything played smooth as silk throughout testing. The RN212 also supports DLNA, iTunes, and Plex if you have an account. We stored all the video and music on the NAS then accessed it using VLC player.

When we connected to the NAS via our iPad and VLC this is what the interface looked like. Once we logged in all our videos from the NAS were accessible, and playback was as smooth as if it was stored locally.

Netgear also has mobile apps for Android and iOS that let you access its contents from anywhere. One of its key features is it can save all the photos and video from your phone or tablet to the NAS, keeping your selfies safe for future generations.

You can also browse all the contents of the NAS from any Internet connection, so you don’t need to use up your phone or tablet’s precious storage space with media since you can just stream it from the NAS via the mobile app.

Overall the music-and-video streaming performance of the RN212 was exceptional, and we had no issues using any of it. It’s quite slick and allows the NAS to perform equally well as a media server as it does as a backup solution or file-sharing hub.